Journal of Fluid Mechanics is the leading international journal in the field and is essential reading for all those concerned with developments in fluid mechanics. It publishes authoritative articles covering theoretical computational and experimental investigations of all aspects of the mechanics of fluids. Each issue contains papers on both the fundamental aspects of fluid mechanics and their applications to other fields such as aeronautics astrophysics physiology chemical and mechanical engineering hydraulics meteorology oceanography geology acoustics and combustion. There are Associate Editors in the USA UK Europe and Australia each of whom independently receives and assesses papers for publication. In order to fulfil better the need for rapid dissemination of information the journal accepts author-prepared source files in TeX and LaTeX.